In this roasted garlic marinara, oven roasted garlic cloves are blended into a wine infused tomato sauce. This sauce is great for dipping mozzarella bites or in your next pasta or spaghetti squash recipe!
One of my favorite food-smells in the world is onions and butter (or oil) cooking on the stove. Something about it will instantly teleport me back to my childhood kitchen. My mom cooking in her apron and my nose hovering two inches above the pan.
My second favorite food related smell in the world is homemade pasta sauce simmering. As you know, I rarely buy store bought sauce, because I’d couldn’t bear to miss out on the smell of it bubbling away. Obviously I love it because sauces usually have the whole onions sautéing thing going on but add in all those herbs and garlic.
This sauce is all the things I love wrapped in one. The whole aroma thing was intensified by adding in a whole head of roasted garlic into a wine infused marinara. All that’s needed now is some pasta or mozzarella bites!
To Make This Roasted Garlic Marinara You Will Need:
- whole head of garlic
- olive oil
- a large shallot
- italian seasoning
- dry red wine
- San Marzano tomatoes (that have been pureed until smooth)
- tomato sauce
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- sugar
- a pinch or two of chili flakes (optional)
First things first, roast the garlic.
You can always do this in advance if you’d like. I just peel off the cloves from 1 small head of garlic (peels are still on) and place them in the center of a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Then I drizzle the cloves with a little olive oil, seal the foil so it’s resembles a purse and then I place it in a preheated 400℉ (or 200℃) oven for about 40 minutes. Once the garlic is safe to handle, I’ll peel off that outer skin of each clove and mash all of the garlic with a fork to form a paste.
I do this instead of roasting the whole cove intact, because I feel I waste more when I roast garlic that way.
In a large 12-inch skillet, sauté 1 large, diced shallot in 1 teaspoon olive oil until tender. Add in the roasted garlic paste and 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, stirring to combine. If using, add the red pepper flakes with the italian seasoning. Smells heavenly!
Then pour in 1/4 cup dry red wine with a (28 ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes that has been pureed, 1 (14.5 ounce) can tomato sauce and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Stir to combine.
Allow the sauce to simmer for 15 to 25 minutes before serving if using right away. If making the sauce in advance, I only simmer it for 10 minutes because I know I would be simmering it the following day with the spaghetti and meat sauce. Season with 1-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper – or to taste.
Ps. the smell of this roasted garlic marinara is heavenly.
Enjoy! And if you give this Roasted Garlic Marinara recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Roasted Garlic Marinara
Ingredients
- 1 head garlic
- olive oil
- 1 large shallot
- 2 teaspoons italian seasoning
- 1/4 cup dry red wine
- 28 ounces canned San Marzano tomatoes, puree in blender until smooth
- 15 ounces canned tomato sauce
- 1¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 pinch chili flakes, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400℉ (or 200℃).
- Peel cloves away from the head of garlic with the skin intact. Place in the center of a a piece of heavy duty aluminum foil and drizzle with a little olive oil and fold edges to create a purse. Roast for 35-45 minutes. Once garlic cloves are cool to handle, remove skins and mash with a fork.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot add oil and shallots and cook until tender. About 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add in mashed roasted garlic and Italian seasoning. Cook for 1 minute before adding in the wine, pureed tomatoes, salt, pepper, sugar and pepper flakes (if using).
- Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes if using it as a pasta sauce. If using in a baked pasta dish, I only simmer for 10 minutes.
- If making in advance; allow the sauce to cool before storing in an airtight container for up to a week.
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Thank you for the recipe, I am looking forward to making it. Can you please post the rest of the directions? Thank you, Mary Beth
Sorry about that Mary Beth! I’m not sure how that happened but it’s up there now 🙂
Could you please share what kind of red wine you like for cooking? Thank you.
Hi Connie! I would suggest whatever wine you like to drink. A dry red wine is best, so for me I use either a Pinot Noir, Merlot or Malbec. I hope this helps!
Thank you for this recipe, I will be trying it. About the recipe book, do you ship worldwide?
Hi Andiswa! Nice to meet you! If you end up trying this recipe, I’d love to hear your thoughts! About the cookbook, I would assume so. Maybe try ordering from Amazon first? 🙂
Your recipe sounds delicious. But I came across a few problems when I made it. First off leave the garlic whole when you roasted, I don’t know what you’re talkin about waste because I did not waste anyting. I tried roasting my garlic like you said 30 minutes in and they were burnt. Second you never and oil to a hot pan. You put the oil in a cold pan and heat it on the oven never the other way around.
Hi Amber! While I appreciate your opinion, I will disagree with you on your point about the oil. When you add oil to a hot stainless pan it will instantly create a non-stick surface. If you google this, you will see many chefs agree with this method. However it’s a personal choice so you do you! And perhaps your garlic cloves were on the small side and that’s why they burned? I would suggest shortening the time on the roasting as I’ve roasted garlic this way dozens of times without a problem. Thanks for taking the time to make the recipe 🙂
Hi Laurie,
Loved this recipe, super easy to follow.
I had a question, as you didn’t say when to incorporate the tomato paste or sugar. I assume you add these with the puréed tomato? Is that correct?
Thank you 🙂
Hi Megan! After looking at the post, I did add where to add the sugar (you were right 😉 ) however, there isn’t tomato paste in this recipe. I hope this helps, but feel free to let me know if you have any more questions! Enjoy 🙂
Can I use all fresh tomatoes in this recipe instead of the canned? I’m trying to find recipes to use up the plethora of Roma, San Marzano and Cherry tomatoes my garden has given me this summer:)
I used this and added more garlic while added tomato paste and sauce, and some other stuff. I also simmered the sauce on low for 4 hours which brings out the flavors of the sauce and makes its richer (i highly recommend simmering pasta sauce for at least 2 hours before serving the longer the better)